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NEW DELHI: India’s domestic LPG production has been ramped up by 36% in a fortnight to meet demand for domestic cylinders, even as the overall availability of cooking gas remains “worrisome”, the petroleum ministry said on Monday. Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, said consumers of both domestic and commercial LPG cylinders are being encouraged to switch to piped gas. She said city gas distribution companies have rolled out incentives to promote PNG connections, including free gas worth Rs 500 for domestic consumers by Indraprastha Gas in Delhi-NCR; waiver of the Rs 500 registration charge for domestic PNG connections and security deposits for commercial consumers by Mumbai-based Mahanagar Gas; and waiver of security deposits for all commercial connections by Bharat Petroleum.
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While India is relatively comfortable as far as availability of crude is concerned, officials accepted the squeeze on LPG supplies is palpable due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint that witnesses the transit of energy supplies to India from West Asian countries. India imports about 90% of its crude requirement, 50% of its natural gas, and 60% of its LPG needs. More than half of India’s crude imports, about 30% of gas and 85-90% of LPG imports come from West Asian countries through Hormuz. Unlike crude, LPG does not have a strategic reserve, and officials said the gas was being arranged from whatever sources possible. While India has partly offset crude supply disruptions by sourcing oil from countries including Russia, gas supplies have been curtailed to industrial users, and LPG availability to commercial establishments such as hotels and restaurants has been limited to ensure domestic consumers do not feel the pinch. While petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri had earlier said India was tapping more sources such as the US, Norway, Canada and Russia for LPG, officials on Monday refused to share details on the additional cargoes secured so far. Sharma said no dry-outs were reported at LPG dealerships and action was being taken against hoarding and black marketing. She said online bookings are up from 84% to 90%, and delivery authentication coverage has been expanded from 53% to 72% to prevent diversion of cylinders at the distributor level.
